Teacher Kaoru
by princess-cheezeball
Summary: Kaoru Shinomori's the teacher of Tomoe Yukishiro. Enish Yukishiro's Tomoe's older brother. Throw in the rest of the gang in into mix and chaos ensues. Oh joy.
1. Prologue

**Prologue_: Enrollment_**

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own RK_.

Enishi Yukishiro buttoned up his black shirt and adjusted his sleeves. He looked at himself at the mirror. He pushed his dark-tinted glasses up the bridge of his nose. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a heavy breath. His hand brushed his earring. Enishi frowned at it. Should he remove it?

"Are you ready? We're going to be late!" A little girl began tugging at his pants. "The picipal might leave already!"

"It's principal, not picipal. Tomoe, we're going to get there, okay? I still have a few minutes to prepare." Enish turned to face his little sister. "What do you think?" He asked, gesturing at his choice of clothes. "And should I remove the earring?"

"it's okay, but do you really have to wear black. It's so hot. And don't remove your earring. It looks cool."

"What's wrong with my shirt?" Enishi asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"You look like a vampire." Tomoe crinkled up her nose. She walked over to her brother's closet and started looking through his clothes, barely reaching them. "Don't you have something that has color?" she was fingering the hem of the clothes with her little fingers. "Here! This one's color blue! Hurry up, Ni-chan remove your shirt now! We'll be late! Did you brush your teeth already?"

Enishi unbuttoned his shirt and looked amused. "Yes, ma'm." He put on the shirt Tomoe picked for him. "Yes, I already brushed my teeth."

"Good. Then let's go!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Much to Tomoe's relief, they finally reached her soon-to-be school with a few minutes to spare. They headed to the principal's office. The little toddler tried to match her brother's long strides, much to Enishi's amusement. It was a game they always played whenever they walked together.

While walking the siblings took in the beauty of the school. The building was red brick and there were lot's of trees surrounding it. There was something warm and cozy about the school. They passed some of the classrooms and both were impressed, especially Tomoe. As they passed another classroom, they noticed a woman precariously perched up a wobbly stool holding something up.

"A little help please to whoever's there. Please?" The woman called out to them. The stool suddenly gave a wobble. "Woah, that was close." She said, trying to regain her balance.

"Hey. May I help you?" Enishi asked politely to the woman perched at the wobbly stool.

"Thank you so much. I'm too dang short to reach it." she turned to the good Samaritan and was a bit taken aback. "Wow, you're tall." She suddenly blurted out.

"Yeah, that's what they say." Enishi looked at her amusedly. She was cute. He began hooking the curtain rod at the sides of the tall window. "Leopard print curtains?" Enishi was looking skeptic.

"They're cute." The lady defended. "Let's ask the young lady over here." She stooped down so that she could be head to head with Tomoe. Giving her a smile, she asked, "What do you think about the curtains?"

She looked at it for a few seconds and tilted her head to the side. "I like it." she smiled shyly at the lady.

"See? The young lady has taste." She ruffled Tomoe's hair affectionately.

"There all done." Enishi stepped down from the stool.

"Thanks so much! Thanks to you my homeroom is finally done." She stuck out her head to shake hands. "I'm sorry for my rudeness, I didn't get your names."

"Oh, I'm Enishi Yukishiro and this is Tomoe Yukishiro." He met the lady's hand with a firm handshake.

"I'm Kaoru Shinomori. It's nice to meet you guys."

"Well we better get going. We have an appointment with Mr. Katsura Kogoro."

"Oh, I'm sorry if I held you up. Do you know your way?"

"Yeah, thanks." Enishi, Tomoe, and Kaoru walked through the door. "It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, you too. Thanks again." Kaoru gave Tomoe's head one last ruffle. "I hope I see you this school year."

"Me too." Tomoe smiled up at her. "Bye!"

"Bye!"


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: _Getting Tipsy over Mail_**

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own RK._

"Good game, Shinomori." Aoshi's teammate said as he patted him on his shoulder.

"Thanks, you too. You guys always here everyday?"

"Nope. We always play on Saturday mornings though. You should come. I'm assuming you live around here?

"Yup. I'll be there. I could use the exercise. Thanks, Akira."

"No problem, I'll see you then."

It was a good thing he decided to play. He hadn't sweated like this for a long time, and that's saying a lot. For some reason he woke up unusually early, which was weird because he was renowned for hating Monday mornings. He woke up around 5 a.m. Aoshi decided to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. Grabbing 2 bananas and his water bottle, he decided to go for jog or a game of basketball if there were people actually awake at this time of the day. And to his surprise there were quite a number of people. He quickly headed to the basketball court. He was greeted by a bunch of guys that were already warming up. He jogged towards them and asked if he could play. He was immediately scrutinized from head to toe. Judging by his height and his built, Akira, the guy who he approached gave Aoshi a quick nod and told him which team he was on.

Aoshi, not being that aggressive, just gave a few three-pointers here and there and rebounds every now and then. The game was pretty much relaxed but as soon as the last quarter began, everybody began to hustle. The opposing team then realized how good Aoshi was, so he was then assigned with a guard. The guard was a persistent one and knew how to do the job well. Aoshi's game was a bit messed up and he kept fouling the guard, but in the end Aoshi's team won.

Upon reaching his building, he checked if there was any mail. He began sorting through the cluster of envelopes. He reddened a bit as he sorted the mail because it was nothing but catalogs for ladies underwear. An important-looking envelope caught his eye though. His eyebrows furrowed as he read who the letter was from and who it was addressed to.

"A letter came in for you." Aoshi help up the envelope and handed it over to Kaoru who looked completely zoned out, having just woken up from bed. She stayed up pretty late the other night cramming her paper work for school.

"Huh?" She said as she squinted her eyes at Aoshi. "I need tea." She scratched her head groggily.

Aoshi ran his hand through his hair impatiently. He was itching to find out what Kaoru's results were. "Well, hurry up."

Last year Kaoru had applied to UJ for her master's degree. They were offering a scholarship on the program Kaoru wanted to take so since the application was free because UJ was a state university and seeing that she had nothing to lose, she gave it a shot. Applying may be a piece of cake but the test that came along with it was notoriously hard. Kaoru was surprised that a test was required. She then found out that the test was rumored to be harder than the educator's licensure exam. Aoshi had helped Kaoru prepare for that test. He became Kaoru's personal tutor or slave driver as Kaoru quaintly put it. The Shinomori siblings had invested blood, sweat, and tears for this application, so Aoshi's anticipation was understandable. But Kaoru didn't currently share Aoshi's enthusiasm, as the reality of the situation had not dawned upon her yet due to her half-dead-to-the-world state. At the moment, Kaoru was sipping her green tea slowly, much to Aoshi's consternation.

"It's a letter from the university. It's probably about the scholarship."

"What scholarship?"

"The one with the test."

"Huh?"

"The one I tutored you for." Aoshi said not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Oh, that one." Kaoru's eyes darkened in remembrance. "Correction dear brother, the one you almost killed me with because of your inhumane way of tutoring. How can I forget?" Kaoru muttered. The present situation still hadn't dawned upon her.

"Just open the envelope." Aoshi ordered icily.

"You open it."

"No, you open it."

"No, you open it."

"Fine."

"Fine." A malevolent grin broke through Kaoru's face as she got the last say in the argument.

Giving Kaoru one last icy stare, Aoshi ripped the envelope open. A whole bunch of papers fell out of it. A small official-looking slip caught his eyes. He quickly ran through it. He wasn't saying anything. He wasn't even smiling or frowning or anything. But there was a certain shine to his eyes.

"What did it say?" Kaoru asked, her curiosity finally aroused.

"See it for yourself." Aoshi answered quietly handing her only the small piece of official-looking paper. Kaoru was quite unnerved by Aoshi's reaction. She found herself dreading what was written on the said letter. Feeling a bit nervous of what the letter contained, she accepted it as Aoshi handed it to her. After 3 seconds of silent reading, an ear-piercing scream sliced through the air.

It was followed by a loud banging of the door swinging open, revealing a very pissed-looking Megumi. Clad in her pajamas, green gunk spread all over her face and hair in curlers, she gave Aoshi and Kaoru very very nasty looks.

"As you're trying to turn us into stone, Medusa, I'd like you take a look at this." Kaoru grinned at her.

Megumi roughly grabbed the letter from her. After another 3 seconds of silent reading, another ear-piercing scream sliced through the air.

Jumping and dancing around like crazed monkeys ensued after.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"To Kaoru!" Megumi crowed happily, raising a glass of champagne.

"To Kaoru." Aoshi agreed solemnly. For someone who already had quite a number of glasses of alcohol, he still seemed so serious. The trio had been thoroughly enjoying themselves, especially Kaoru.

"No, no, no!" Kaoru slurred happily. "To my beautiful cousin and dear brother! You two have literally pushed me to settle for nothing but excellence and have been with me all the way!"

"To the three of us!" Megumi cheered. "May the three of us continue to be the competitive, high-strung, smart-assed, over-achievers that we are!"

"Aa." Aoshi nodded, taking a long swig of champagne.

"Hiccup!" Kaoru giggled uncontrollably and stumbled on to the hard-wood floor, in which more giggles ensued. She gave a contented sigh, and sat up Indian-style. She looked around the apartment the three of them shared.

With its high ceilings, hardwood floors, airy atmosphere, and big space, the trio couldn't have asked for more. From what it looks like now, it was hard to believe that just 2 years ago, they'd been arguing over the rent, rooms, and furnishings.

Kaoru liked eye-blinding color.

Aoshi was a minimalist, the less stuff the better.

Megumi looked like a fabric rose nymph obsessed with shabby-chic.

One can just imagine the first few months of these three individuals living together - complete and utter chaos. Their fellow renters had reported them several times for the racket they caused – Megumi's shrill cries of protest, Aoshi's annoying and deliberate throwing of moving boxes, Kaoru roaring at Aoshi for leaving the toilet seat down, and so on. It came to the point that Mr. Shinomori, the Shinomori's dad and Megumi's uncle threatened to throw them out because he was always receiving complaints about the "tenants at 137" It was hard to believe that three of them came out of those first months without throttling each other.

Their space now was a happy marriage between their three preferences. Aoshi chose the clean-cut furnishings. Kaoru added color to the room with her varied selection of pillows, throws, and carpets. Megumi indulged on her shabby-chic fantasies through lots of candles, fabric roses, and Oriental antiques. Friends of the inhabitants were often asked if they hired an interior decorator to do their place. They'd respond with grins. Well, Aoshi didn't grin, but he did smirk.

And Aoshi knows now to always leave the seat up, sometimes.

The trio still has their little spats every now and then, but it's nothing a game of rock-paper-scissors can't solve.

They have much to be thankful for. They share a great apartment. All of them have respectable jobs- Aoshi as an art director at Bluestone Media, Megumi as a doctor at Genzai General Hospital, and Kaoru as a preschool and first-grade teacher at Rosewood Elementary. Life was good.

Kaoru looked up and whispered a prayer of thanks.

_Thanks DD!_


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2_: Mistaken and Confused Identities_**

**Disclaimer: **I do own RK

Checking her appearance for one last time on her compact, Kaoru Shinomori headed towards the school's auditorium for the annual Parent-Teacher Fellowship. The administration always held it a week before classes started. The Parent-Teacher Fellowship had made communication better between parents and teachers alike, thus meeting the needs of the students were easier and more individualized. It was a nice get-to-know-each-other slash welcome party and an orientation at the same time.

Kaoru walked towards her fellow teachers. "So, how's the watch going?"

"No such luck." Misao Makimachi, a preschool teacher too like Kaoru, sighed heavily. "All the guys here are married! There is not one single man out here!"

"That's where you're wrong, Misao-chan." Tomoko Yanagi, a grade 1 teacher whispered coyly. "Check them out, 12-o-clock."

The young teachers turned to the "them" Tomoko was talking about. Their eager eyes set upon two very handsome young men, who looked liked they were in their late twenties. The black spiky haired one was wearing a dark blue polo shirt and black slacks. What really caught their eyes was the hanging earring he had on his left ear. The brown-haired guy looked more casual and laid-back, wearing, khaki pants and a black shirt. He was currently grinning from ear to ear, which elicited sighs from the ladies. He had a nice and friendly aura around him whereas his companion had the tall-dark-and-handsome thing going on. They all unanimously agreed that these two guys without a doubt indeed fell into the "Smokin' Hot and Single" category.

"Dibs on Mr. Gorgeous smile!"

"Na-uh! I saw him first!"

"The one in the dark blue shirt has that bad boy charm."

"I know. This is so like high school."

Whilst her colleagues where debating who was cuter, Kaoru was racking her brain where she saw the guy in the dark blue shirt before. "I remember a face." She thought, taking another look at the guy. "Especially a cute face." She grinned to herself.

"Um, hello? Is this thing on?" A middle-age woman tapped the microphone, causing very audible and painful feedback. "Sorry." She smiled apologetically. "Good afternoon." She began formally. I'd like to welcome everyone to the annual Parent-Teacher Fellowship here in Wood Rose Elementary. Now, it is my honor to be introducing you to our own dear administrator, Mr. Katsura Kogoro for our welcome addresses." Everyone clapped politely.

"Thank you Mrs. Kazumi. She's the head of the preschool department. Welcome, teachers and parents. I won't take long because we have a lot planned for our dear parents today. Speaking of the parents let me thank you for choosing our humble institution to educate your children. "

Everything after that was very much drowned out by Kaoru's thoughts. She was still trying to figure out where she saw the guy in the blue shirt. "I saw him before…" then it suddenly hit her. "Leopard print curtains…" She laughed to herself. How could she forget?

Lost in thought, she didn't realize that Mr. Katsura Kogoro started introducing the staff, until she heard her name being called out and felt a painful nudge on her side. After shooting Misao a quick glare, she stood up abruptly and gave a gracious smile to the parents and to her colleagues.

"So that's Tomoe's teacher." Akira whispered to his bestfriend, Enishi Yukishiro. "She's hot."

"Can you please keep your distance from me?" Enishi hissed at him. "It's bad enough that that lady in the registration thought that we," he shuddered, "are together."

_Enishi and Akirai were headed towards to the registration to get their name tags and free meal tickets for the dinner later in the evening. They were greeted cheerfully by a small petite woman. _

_She proceeded to ask their names. "Your names please."_

"_Enishi Yukishiro."_

"_Your wife?" She asked not looking up._

"_Um, I don't have a wife." Enishi answered politely. _

_At this answer the woman looked up. "Oh my, I'm sorry." She apologized shifting her gaze from Enishi to Yuri and smiling at the two of them as if they were the cutest things she had ever seen._

_Enishi froze at the idea she was implying. "No, it's not what you think." He stuttered. "We're not like that." _

_Akira, on the other hand, snorted then proceeded to guffaw loudly._

"_Don't worry about it, honey." She waved her hand flippantly. "My brother is the same as you are." She whispered to him as if sharing gossip. She handed their name tags and tickets to the so-called couple._

"_But.. we're not!" Enishi tried to explain._

"_Don't worry. I won't tell a soul. It'll be between us girls. " She promised, holding her right hand up. "It'll be our little secret." Then she winked at them._

Enishi shuddered at the embarrassing memory.

"Let them think what they want to think." Yuri waved off his hand flippantly. "It's not like it's true. Is it?" Akira looked at him suspiciously.

"Excuse me? I didn't know you were that desperate." Enishi retorted, very much disgusted.

"I am very much confident of my sexuality, thank you very much."

"I don't care what they think about me. It's Tomoe I'm worried about. She doesn't have parents like most kids do. Enishi eyes softened at the subject of her sister. "I won't do her any good if the school thinks her brother is shameless homo, bringing his so called "boyfriend" to school functions like this."

"Dude, I know that. Don't worry about it 'cause they won't be thinking that by the time this thing ends." Akira had a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"May I remind you that you promised not to do anything to embarrass me?"

"You think so low of me." Akira sniffed, feigning hurt. "I'm already the one who's trying to make right this disgustingly and perverted situation we are in."

"This is a school, not a single's bar. In case you didn't know."

"School, singles bar. Toma-toe, Toma-tow. Same thing."

Enishi shook his head in defeat. "Remind me why I let you talk me into letting you come with me?"

"I came to support you, seeing your difficult situation being a single parent." Akira said in all sincerity. He saw how Enishi was looking wistfully at the parents that were here. Being around them had reminded him of his loss.

"Thanks, dude. I mean it, but I was asking for the other reason."

"Hot teachers."

Enishi had to admit to that it was true. There were a lot of nice-looking ladies who looked decent enough but one had already caught his eye. Tomoe will be happy that she would be her teacher. He forgot about the little petite lady with the leopard print curtains. She looked nice tonight.

"You were thinking of Tomoe's teacher weren't you?" Yuri grinned at him.

"Shut up. People are looking at us." Enishi countered back.

"Whatever, dude. I knew you were." Akira relaxed himself in his chair, slouching a bit. "So do you plan to talk to her after this thing?"

Enishi massaged his temples. He was beginning to regret bringing Yuri to the orientation. "Look, Akira, let's try to remember why we're here okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay." Akira rolled his eyes. "Lighten up, will ya? Just messing with you, dude. You haven't cracked a smile ever since we got here." He looked over his brooding friend. "In fact your facial muscles twitched a bit when you saw Tomoe's teacher," Yuri paused, "You know her."

"We've been friends way too long." Enishi mused.

"Hah. I knew it." Akira looked at his friend in interest. It was rare that Enishi even remembered an encounter with the opposite sex. Enishi had no problems attracting the female species. Heck, he was swarmed by them everyday. It's just that if they weren't after his trust fund, they were not so keen about his sister, Tomoe. "Well, buddy this is your lucky day. All the parents are grouped according to their kid's teachers. So…" He trailed off, giving Enishi a roguish grin.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Good evening to everyone. Again I'd like to welcome y'all to our annual Parent-Teacher Fellowship. In this activity we'll have a little getting-to-know-each-other time since we'll be seeing each other a lot during PTCs and other school functions. Start off with your name and then a little something about yourself. Kinda like freshman orientation." Kaoru noticed a few smiles and chuckles from the parents. "Anyway let me start it off by introducing myself. I am Teacher Kaoru Shinomori. I'll be teaching Grade 1 and pre-school this year and yellow roses are my favorite flowers."

"Yellow roses…" Enishi found himself storing the information for future use. He noticed that she looked really nice when she laughed. And just like in the movies, complete with the whole slow motion effect going on and imaginary flower petals floating around her face, Kaoru turned to face him, looking at him expectantly.

"It's your turn, dufus." Akira nudged him hard at his side. Hiding his painful "oomph", Enishi smiled apologetically at the expectant faces and proceeded to introduce himself.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Well, that went quite well." Enishi drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. The rest of the evening turned out quite nicely. The prepared dinner was delicious and he made acquaintances with some of the parents and the faculty. He even got to talk to Miss Shinomori.

"Right." Akira snorted. "Dude, I've never seen you so… disabled. Did you forget that you're vocal functions or were you just momentarily paralyzed? What happened to Mr. Ruthless-in-court?"

"Who you calling disabled!" Enishi answered back defensively. "I talked to her!"

"Yeah, you did. You asked her to excuse you because you were coming through and you asked her to please pass the salt. I would hardly describe that as 'talking'. You were given a thousand opportunities. She was assigned to our table. She was assigned to sit next to you! And all you can say was 'Please pass the salt.'!"

"Like you could do better." The frustrated driver narrowed his eyes at the road. Enishi felt that he didn't need to be reminded of his 'disabled moments' earlier that evening. He was already feeling incredibly stupid at the moment. No need to remind him further of that. He still had some consolation though. His mood began to considerably lighten.

"For your information, I actually TALKED to some of the people there, as in I had an actual CONVERSATION with them." Akira said as a matter of fact. "I actually have some of the numbers of the faculty." He grinned impishly.

"Did you tell them that I am not related to you in anyway whatsoever?"

"No. I told them you were my transvestite boyfriend who is currently living with me."

Enishi actually took his eyes of the road to give his best friend a look of disgust and pure contempt. If looks could kill, Akira would be a pile of dust right there and then.

"I'm kidding. Dude, lighten up. Just because your encounter with the opposite sex didn't go too well, it doesn't mean that you're entitled to end your life and mine by not looking at the road while you're driving." Akira warned him seriously.

"Akira, I didn't need to talk to her. I already talked to Katsura-san about everything I need to know." Enishi was trying to redeem himself but doing a terrible job at hiding it. "And all I thought was that she looked nice. You don't expect me to think more than that. She's my sister's teacher. It's just wrong."

"But you wanted to."

"I didn't. Please don't compare me to yourself. I don't go and hit on anything with two legs and a chest."

"Oh, so what about Yuki, Tara, Rachel, Lilly, Uno…" Akira looked over to Enishi. "Shall I go on?" Yuri was grinning to himself.

"Those are different cases, okay? They weren't my little sister's teachers." Enishi gritted out. Yuri was driving him nuts already.

"Yeah, but they didn't exactly like your sister either." Enishi responded to him with a cold stare. "Look, it's the truth. But here's a woman who likes your sister and who's really really hot."

"Can you please stop calling her **_hot_**? She's my-"

"Yeah, I know. Your sister's teacher. But you have to admit for a teacher, she's-"

"Yeah, I know. Hot."

"That's why I'm telling you that you should've at least talked to her about something other than salt."

"Shut up."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: _Special_ **

**Disclaimer: **I do not own RK

A small yawn broke out from Tomoe Yukishiro's face. She was still a bit sleepy because she had to wake up earlier than usual. Her brother had an urgent matter to attend to at work so her sleeping time was cut an hour less. Glancing at the door every now and then, she waited for her friends to arrive.

"Ohayo, Tomoe-chan!" A bubbling Suzume burst through the door. After putting her coat and school bag at their colorful red caddy, she headed for Tomoe's table. "What's up?"

"Um…" The little girl looked up. "The ceiling?" Her voice was not sure.

"See! That's what I answered to my big sister when she asked me that question." Suzume whined. "She told me that my answer was," she checked around if no one was listening. Narrowing her eyes at boy who was trying to eavesdrop on them, she whispered conspiratorially, "dumb."

Tomoe gave a quiet gasp. "She said the d word?" Her eyes were wide in astonishment.

"Yeah." Suzume nodded her head vigorously. Before Tomoe could comfort her friend, her favoritest and bestest teacher in the whole wide world finally arrived.

"Good morning, Teacher Kaoru!" the two girls greeted cheerfully.

"Hey kids!" Kaoru greeted them as she put down her bags on her desk. "Wow, you guys are earlier than I am." She looked at them curiously. "What brings you to school so early? When I was a kid, I wasn't too excited about school."

Suzume and Tomoe looked at their teacher in wonder. They couldn't imagine their favorite teacher not liking school.

"My sister had an early volleyball practice. She wasn't able to go with my dad so she had to come with us." Suzume explained.

"Oh, okay." Kaoru replied. "How about you?" She caressed Tomoe's soft hair. She was a cute little thing. Her face was like that of a porcelain doll, delicate and almost perfect.

"My brother had an emergency in the office, and he said it cannot wait, so he rushed me here." Tomoe replied.

"Well, my little early birds, how would you like to help me fix our arts and crafts for later?" She invited the girls over to the low red table at the back room. The toddlers expressed delight through a chorus of "Sure, Teacher Kaoru!"

Pretty soon students started to fill the classroom. it was good thing that the Tomoe and Suzume were pretty fast workers or they wouldn't have finished before the students arrived. Favoritism was a very sensitive subject among her students, so she was careful not to give too much attention to one student. Everyone got into their places as the bell rang to signal the start of class.

They say that time flies quickly when you are having fun. That was exactly what Kaoru felt. She loved her students so much that her job didn't seem like work. When she was teaching, she made her sure that her class wasn't boring, but was educating and fun at the same time. At recess, you could see her playing Duck, Duck, Goose and Simon Says under the oak trees that dotted the school field. She also made sure that no one was left out or ostracized.

As Kaoru was watching the kids play at the school's playground, an old man sat down next to her. For a few minutes they just sat at the shaded school bench and watched the kids play. They acknowledge each other without words. Comfortable silence filled the need for conversation. For an old man, he was still quite handsome. He had that grandpa-air around him which made him irresistible to kids. He was often seen with the kids, saying hello, asking them how they were, and secretly giving them candy.

Kaoru was told that Katsura was like this. He wasn't much of a conversationalist. He only spoke when he needed to. He was a respected man so people didn't really question his odd behavior. The two continued watching the kids when finally the old man broke the silence.

"Kamiya-san," Katsura began. "How have you been fairing this past few months"

"Very good, Katsura-san." Kaoru answered calmly but in the inside alarms were ringing inside her head. She began to mentally sift through the list of schools were she can apply to in case she got fired. "Thank you for asking."

"I am not here to fire you, Kamiya –san." His face was serious but the twinkle of humor was in his eyes.

"Thank you, Katsura-san." Kaoru mentally breathed a sigh of relief. "What brings you here?"

"I came to talk to you about one of your students." Katsura began gazing out into the playground. Kaoru followed his gaze and landed on Tomoe. She was on one of the swings with Suzume by her side. Tomoe began giggling at something Suzume said.

"Tomoe-chan?"

"Hai." Katsura gave a nod. "She's a special kid."

Kaoru turned to face Katsura. Her face alight with excitement. "I know. She's exceptionally bright. She can read and write better than most kids. Yesterday, she read Dr. Suess' Green Eggs and Ham all by herself!"

Katsura smiled at her excitement. "Yes, she is exceptionally bright."

"Do you plan to move her to a more advanced class?" Kaoru couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. She was one of her sweetest and most thoughtful students.

"No." Katsura answered, still looking at Tomoe. "Tomoe is different from most kids." Kaoru just kept quiet and let her boss continue. She hoped that her student wasn't suffering from any fatal illness. "She doesn't have a normal home life."

The teacher creased her eyebrows in confusion. Who then was the guy she saw Tomoe with during the summer? A social worker?

"The man you met during the PTF party was her brother." Katsura answered as if reading her thoughts. "Her parents died in an airplane accident when she was just three."

"Oh my…" Kaoru couldn't imagine what Mr. Yukishiro was going on through right now. He had the responsibility of a dad and a mom. She looked at Tomoe who was now happily playing tag. Kaoru had the urge to her up in her arms and hug her tightly. No one deserves to grow up without parents.

"My heart goes out to the Yukishiro siblings." The old principal said quietly. "I don't know if they have relatives but from what Mr. Yukishiro tells me, it's only the two of them right now. I felt that you should know being her teacher. You're the closest thing she has right now to a mother figure."

"Thank you for telling me this, Katsura-san." Kaoru's even, quiet, and laced with determination. "I understand."

"I knew you would." Katsura gave her an endearing smile. "I ask that you be discreet with this information I gave you." Kaoru nodded in response. "Now, I must be going." He stood up quietly.

"Good day to you, Katsura-san." Kaoru called out as he began walking away through the shady tree-lined path leading to the double door entrance of the school.

"You too, Kamiya-san." His voice replied loud and clear.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

That lunchtime, Kaoru's class had lunch under the huge oak tree. It was a nice and balmy afternoon. Kaoru decided to take advantage of it since the sunny weather was almost over and the fast approaching of rain showers will pretty much keep them inside the classroom. She got out some of the blankets for them to sit on and have lunch at. The huge oak had branches spread all over the place that it looked like a mushroom. It provided shade and cover for everyone. All the kids were enjoying it immensely, especially Tomoe. She loved picnics.

Yuri Kogoro, the grandson of the pre-school's principal looked curiously at Tomoe and asked loudly, "Tomoe-chan, why do you live with your brother? How come you don't have a proper mommy and daddy like everyone else?"

Tomoe looked around nervously. She also wondered why she didn't have parents like normal kids do. But strange to say, she never asked. She never thought about it that much, until now. It was not that she didn't like her older brother; in fact, she loved her brother very much. She looked around hopefully for her teacher, because she knew that Teacher Kaoru would help her. But Kaoru had gone to the classroom to get paper towels because Shinta had accidentally spilled his orange juice all over his shirt. All the other kids were looking at her and she needed to think of an answer quickly.

"Because I don't" she replied flatly. The poor little girl was trying to end the subject immediately.

"But why not?" he insisted. "Everybody has a mommy and daddy. Somebody must have borned you?" Yuri was ogling her with his huge eyes which size was magnified even more with his glasses. Tomoe felt her eyes welling up with tears. She looked around for Suzume if she was back from the bathroom. She bit her lip, trying to hold back her tears.

"P'raps their dead!" A red haired girl with big bright green eyes named Karen quipped cheerfully. Tomoe bowed her head to hide her quivering lip.

"Or p'raps they ran away and left you," breathed Janie, who read quite grown-up storybooks.

"Or p'raps they're divorthed," broke in Van, who knew all about it. By this time Tomoe was about ready to burst into sobs. She looked around and breathed a sigh of relief, for Kaoru was back with a handful of paper towels, asking Shinta to hold still and Suzume was trailing behind them. Everyone's attention was diverted and Tomoe sidled up to Kaoru and slid her small hand into hers, feeling safe.

"Teacher Kaoru, why does Tomoe-chan live with her brother? How come she doesn't have a proper Mom and Dad---- " Yuri squeaked.

Kaoru's clear voice cut across his question. "If I had a brother like Mr. Yukishiro, I wouldn't care if I didn't have a mom or a dad. He's as good as a mother and a father rolled into one. I have an older brother too, you know. And I love him very much." Kaoru wondered where he heard about Tomoe's parentless state. "Anyway, listen up everybody, since its already three-o-clock, "she paused dramatically."You can already go home!"

The kids cheered for joy and started running towards the classroom. "Don't forget your stuff and your homework!" Kaoru yelled, jogging behind the rowdy group. She helped the kids in gathering their things to make sure that the kids didn't forget anything. Kaoru stayed in her homeroom for a few minutes to clean. After gathering her bag and coat, she locked up and took her time walking amongst the school grounds. She loved how the way the sun hit the trees during this time.

As she entered the parking lot, she spotted Tomoe. Her backpack was open and her pencils were precariously perched on the edge. Kaoru ran over to her student and zipped up her backpack for her.

"Arigato, Teacher Kaoru." Tomoe beamed up at her.

Returning her smile, Kaoru gave her kiss on the forehead and ruffled her hair playfully. "You're special. Always remember that," she whispered.

Tomoe gave her teacher a hug and waved good-bye as she ran towards a black RAV4. Kaoru looked around to see if anyone was watching. The last thing she wanted was complaints from parents for having favorites among the class, but unfortunately, somebody was watching. The spectator's eyes followed Kaoru as she climbed into her car. Enishi Yukishiro looked up at the car door opening and felt his small smile grow wider as his sister gave him a hug.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: _Inspections and Akira's Psychoanalysis_**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own RK

Enishi Yukishiro let out a yawn as he rolled over to the side of the bed to check his alarm clock.

It was only 5 am. He could still catch a few winks before getting ready. Sinking into the covers, Enishi closed his eyes and tried his very best to get back to dream land. Sadly his mind won't let him. Thoughts about the things he had to do today suddenly occupied his head. He shut his eyes, determined. There was no way in hell that he'd get up earlier that he's supposed to. He worked hard for this period of sleep. He'd only managed to catch 3-4 hours of sleep this week. And besides he'd been having such a nice dream too. It had been about his client. His sleazy geezer of a client decided to just admit that he did sexually harass his secretary and he was given a long sentence in prison. Real prison not that "white-collar" minimum security rehabilitation place where they have HBO in their cells and get meals better than any fast-food joint. But much to his consternation, his conscious was already awake and was berating him to get off his butt and start preparing for the child welfare's annual visit.

Child welfare's adherence to the rules concerning children can probably be compared to how Enishi's habit of early morning coffee.

Consistent and unfailing.

They have proved to be one of the respected and strictest institutions established by the government. They weren't to be messed with. This is why every year, Enishi made sure that every time they would visit, he and Tomoe would be the epitome of a Kodak picture-perfect family.

1. No Doritos bags, Twix wrappers, popcorn kernels, and soda cans lying around in the living room.

2. No making magic potions with ketchup, mustard, aftershave, shampoo, and flowers from the garden.

3. No questions about where babies come from and what happens when a girl and boy kiss.

4. No violent suggestions on how to permanently relieve kid's television of a certain purple dinosaur.

The list goes on.

For the past 2 years, Enishi and Tomoe have been the epitome of a perfect family, at least until after child welfare left. As soon as child welfare rep left, the siblings would celebrate by a junk food fest paired with a LOTR movie marathon.

They'd been getting good marks for the past two years, so why did Enishi felt that something was off?

Akira.

He bolted up from the bed and ran to the guest room. Sure enough, Akira Kiyosato was curled up with a little lump beside him which Enishi could only guess was his sister.

He didn't know how it happened but ever since his parents died, Akira attached himself to the Yukishiro siblings. It was like he had been there forever, like he had always been part of the family. He didn't like to admit it very often since Akira had a tendency to be irritatingly arrogant, but he couldn't have asked for a better godfather for Tomoe. Akira was Tomoe's godfather in the truest sense of the word. The moment he gazed upon Tomoe's shy smile, he was whipped. He loved his godchild to death. Akira always said that he was sorry for the boys who'll fall prey to that smile of hers.

Marching over to Akira's side, he shook him gently. As much as he wanted to yell in his ear, he didn't want to wake up Tomoe.

"Mph. Rupput. Nyow." Akira mumbled.

"Wake up!" Enish hissed, shaking his shoulders more roughly.

"Shhawasee," was all he got in response.

Growling quietly, he looked at the squirming green lump. Out popped a little bed head looking at her brother sleepily, "Morning Ni-chan."

"Morning, sleepy head." The sides of his mouth twitched into an amused grin. he looked over to the slumbering goof, who snuggled up more deeply into the covers. Enishi suddenly had an idea.

"Honey, can you please wake up Uncle Kira?"

"Uncle Kira?" Tomoe ran her tiny hand through Akira's dark hair. "Wake up, Uncle Kira." She continued to rub her hand through his head, as if patting the head of a dog.

"Mpph." Akira cracked an eye open at Tomoe. "Morning, squirt."

The little sleepy head gave her uncle a smile and padded off towards the bathroom. She had to get ready. Some special important person was going to visit them today.

"Akira!" Enishi's voice grew more and more impatient by the minute. "Wake up! You have to get out of here!"

"Right now?" Akira groaned. "Is this about CWD?"

"What do you think?" Enishi replied dryly.

"CWD told you to conduct your affairs as normal as possible. Me sleeping over is normal." Akira grabbed a pillow and covered his head with it.

"Well to us it's normal. You don't know what normal is for the CWD." Enishi grabbed the pillow from the half-asleep individual.

"C'mon, Enishi. You expect me to drive home in this state?" Akira gestured to himself. He was currently sporting a severe case of bed head. His eyes were smaller due to grogginess. He had 6-year-old drool all over his shirt and was dressed in sweat pants and black socks with basketballs on them. He had a point, but Enishi wasn't about to take that risk.

"Yeah."

"Me being seen going home from your house looking like this is NOT normal and besides, I could get in an accident while driving, being in a half asleep state."

"You have to go." Enishi's voice was adamant, as if he was talking to a little kid.

"You wouldn't want my death be pointing at you." Akira sing-songed. "What would Child Welfare say then? They wouldn't want Tomoe living with a MURDERER."

"You seem pretty awake to start annoying me at 7 in the morning, so I don't see the problem."

"Okay, okay." Knowing that he was fighting a losing battle, he stood up slowly, much to Enishi's consternation and muttered something along the lines of jerk and being born with a stick up the butt. "At least let me get my shoes."

Finally they reached the front door. Enishi was already at the brink of throttling the man. Akira took so long in finding his shoes. He kept saying, "They were here last night," at the corner of the guest room. So he had to look at every corner and outside the room. After 5 minutes of vain searching, the two men finally found the pair of shoes. Well, Enishi did. He narrowed his dark green eyes in annoyance. He found them right beside the night table of the bed. Enishi resisted the urge to wack them at Akira. Then Akira decided to make himself pretty. Enishi lost it by then.

"GAH! FINE! WHATEVER! JUST GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF MY HOUSE BY FRIGGIN 8:00 OR ELSE I WON'T BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR MY ACTIONS!" Enishi roared at the bathroom door. His threat fell on deaf ears as Akira began singing "My Girl" in the shower.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Uncle Kira all clean like me!" Tomoe exclaimed as Akira walked over to the kitchen. He ruffled Tomoe's hair in the usual big-brother fashion. Uncle "Kira" took a long deep sniff. Sweet smells of cinnamon and vanilla permeated the air of the quaint kitchen. He looked over to the oven to find Enishi carefully transferring pastries onto a bright blue plate.

"Did you just bake that?" Akira couldn't quite believe at what he was seeing. "And since when did you learn how to bake?"

"It's called learning how to follow instructions."

Akira decided to ignore the sarcastic retort. "Man, aren't you taking this inspection way too seriously? I mean the rep will only be here for a couple of minutes. She's not staying for mid-morning tea."

Akira had a point, so Enishi responded to that in the way he knew best.

"Shut up."

"I'll give you this though. They look quite edible." Akira smiled at having made Tomoe giggle. "Leave me some, okay?"

"They ARE edible, you idiot."

"I'm done, Ni-chan!" Tomoe chimed in as she got up from the breakfast table carrying her empty cereal bowl. "Thanks for buying coco puffs."

"Anytime, sweetie." Enishi took the cereal bowl from her and placed it in the kitchen sink for washing. "Now, go upstairs and change your shirt. Pick a nice one okay?"

"Okay Ni-chan. I'll go upstairs and change my shirt." Up the stairs bounded the little girl.

"Didn't you notice that she's quite specific?" Akira glanced upstairs fondly. "She just doesn't say 'Okay Ni-chan.' She has to repeat what you asked of her."

"Yeah. She's quite smart for her age." Enishi couldn't hide the smug tone from his voice.

"I'll say. She has a smart uncle. It was bound to rub off." Akira replied, matching the smug tone of Enishi. "Well, I'll be off. See you guys later." Akira gave his arms a nice long stretch.

"Yeah, yeah." Enishi answered gruffly.

Akira was about to retort just to annoy him but he knew better. He already annoyed him enough and this whole inspection thing was getting to Enishi already. Akira's brown eyes crinkled as he let out a huge yawn. Grabbing his bag, he opened the front door to reveal a surprised young woman who looked like she was just about to knock. Akira quickly recovered and flashed a genial smile at her.

Enishi suppressed a groan. He knew that smile. Trust Akira to be ready to turn on the charm on anything, anytime, anywhere. The CWD looked like a sensible woman. She possibly couldn't be swayed by Akira's manipulations.

"Good morning." The CWD representative smiled shyly at Akira.

Or maybe not.

"Ah yes. It is a good morning. If only all my mornings started with me opening the front door to a beautiful lady such as yourself." He said, his voice sounding sincere and teasing at the same time. "One can always dream I suppose." He sighed, making it sound like it was a big hassle.

The CWD held back a giggle but couldn't help letting out a smile. "Are you Mr. Enishi Yukishiro?"

"Heck no." Akira grimaced. "He's your guy." He pointed Enishi who was cradling his temple on his palm, looking really stressed out.

The CWD didn't bother hiding her disappointment, much to Enishi's annoyance. "Why don't we continue this lovely interlude inside?" Enishi gritted out, not hiding his sarcasm. The CWD rep seemed not to have noticed for she was too busy being led by Akira into the house. "This is going to be a long day." Enishi muttered.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

**To: **unclekira  
**From: **iamthelaw  
**Subject:** YOU

You just really had to, huh? You just had to go and give the lady a nice little peck on the cheek. It was bad enough that you, not so subtly I might add, give her your business card. Oh no. YOU JUST HAD TO GO UP AND KISS HER.

God know why I put up with you. Only God knows.

It was a good thing that I passed the inspection or I would've killed you on the spot, witnesses present or not. I don't know how I could've got through that ordeal without divine intervention.

Trust you to know how compromise a situation for the worse. This just reminds me of the time that Himura sent us to review that business contract with Shishio Makoto. The guy almost popped a blood vessel when he walked in on his favorite secretary sitting on your lap. You JUST HAD TO give her a back rub.

So thanks a lot.

**Enishi Yukishiro**  
Senior Associate  
Seijuro and Himura Associates  
10225 Clay Rd.  
Tokyo, Japan 8958  
Fax: 1-781-895-968  
Telephone: 1-832-4599

**To:**iamthelaw  
**From:** unclekira  
**Re. Subject:**YOU

She was right. You have serious issues. Where is all this hostility coming from? I saw you yesterday baking cinnamon rolls and now you verbally assaulting me? Through email none the less.

About the kiss: It wasn't like we were necking each other in front of you. It was a friendly peck on the cheek. You're just jealous cause I'm getting some and you're not. When was the last time you got some? Or went on a date? HUH? Enough said.

That secretary incident: how many times will repeat it? SHE CAME ON TO ME. I will admit that I did enjoy her… gentle minstrations, but she initiated it. And besides, how the hell was I suppose to know that she was Makoto's favorite secretary? Who has favorite secretaries? Only pimps have favorite secretaries. Which explains why Makoto is serving a 30-year jail sentence cause he's a pimp.

I honestly don't see why your panties are in a bunch. You passed the inspection, Yukishiro. AS USUAL. Me giving a little sugar to the pretty CWD rep will not affect her report on you. It was me, kissing her. Not you.

And besides, how can you not pass the inspection?

Financial reasons? I don't think so. Your parents left you guys pretty much set, with all their stock shares, retirement plans, and your trust fund. To add to that, you work. You and Tomoe can live comfortably for the rest of your lives. I don't understand why you still work actually. Credibility wise, you're almost perfect. You can be demented when you want to but otherwise you're sane. And you're records are clean. I'm sure if you murdered someone in the past, you had a perfectly good reason. And besides, you're a lawyer. All lawyers have clean records. And Tomoe's perfectly happy with you. You're not her "Ni-chan" for anything.

So what the heck is your problem? Here's your problem. You're not getting any. And you know why you're not getting any? You're too damn picky.

Thanks to you, my fingers are too worn out to write out that report Himura's been nagging me about the whole week.

**Akira Kiyosato  
**Senior Associate  
Seijuro and Himura Associates  
10225 Clay Rd.  
Tokyo, Japan 8958  
Fax: 1-781-895-135  
Telephone: 1-832-1357

**To:** unclekira  
**From:** iamthelaw  
**Subject:** "You're too damn picky"

They're called standards. I doubt if you heard of those. Don't worry about that report. I had it done a week ago.

**Enishi Yukishiro**  
Senior Associate  
Seijuro and Himura Associates  
10225 Clay Rd.  
Tokyo, Japan 8958  
Fax: 1-781-895-968  
Telephone: 1-832-4599

**I know it's kind of an abrupt ending but I think Enishi would've just ended the conversation like that. Akira is nothing like the Akira in the OVA because I needed someone to balance out Enishi. And don't you agree that Akira's kinda cute? What do you guys think of the whole email thing? I've been playing with the idea on my mind now for quite sometime.I hope it wasn't confusing. Fanfiction's editor just won't cooperate with the spacing. Sigh. **


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Scratching the Surface**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RK, Starbucks, Microsoft Windows and Google. **

Kaoru Kamiya gave her legs a nice long stretch as she slumped into her seat. "I'm finally done!" she groaned in relief. She had just finished finalizing grades and the necessary paperwork to send them out to the respective students. The hectic week was finally coming to an end and Kaoru could look forward to the long weekend.

There wasn't going to be school on Friday until the next Monday, so she decided to give her room a thorough inspection before she called it a day. She checked to see her cabinets and desks were securely locked, arranged the kids' tables and chairs, and carried her student's window-side garden outside to leave them there for the long weekend. Kaoru gave her homeroom a once over and when she was satisfied with how everything was arranged, she gathered her stuff and headed over to the teacher's lounge to drop off some papers and get a cup of tea.

Woodrose teachers' lounge actually looked like a lounge. The administrators and owners of the school saw the importance of having a place where their faculty could actually relax when work was just a bit too much. They weren't stingy in providing the materials needed to build a sanctuary amidst the chaos.

Kaoru couldn't get over how lovely the lounge was. It was a cross between a patio, a library, and a Starbucks. The walls of the lounge were thick glass with an edgy design of being cracked. The right side of the room housed a coffee and vending machine, and a mini bakery run by the cleaning ladies. There was also two big conference rooms located inside. Modern yet comfortable circles of couches were found on the left side of the room along with an excellent sound system and some books and magazines. The ceiling was Kaoru's favorite part of the room. The builders incorporated the design of a sun roof and mounted up an irregular shaped canvas that spanned the entire room. It was an art piece and at the same time, a means of shade when the sun got too hot or bright. On its sides, they hooked mini spotlights. All in all the room was very contemporary, much to the delight of the younger faculty of the school. The mature and older staff was just happy that they could get a decent beverage without having to go out of the school.

"Hey Kaoru-san!" greeted cheerfully by Tomoko Yanagi, a second-grade teacher. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I'm just dropping off a few papers." Kaoru replied with a smile. Making her way to the corner or the room, she slid in a thin folder at the cubby hole of their department head.

"Don't tell me you're done with the grades already?" Tomoko asked enviously, eyeing the folder.

"Yeah, I am." Kaoru answered meekly.

"Argh." Tomoko sighed dramatically. "I've never met anyone so responsible in my whole life."

"Are you trying to give a compliment?" Misao asked with a wry grin. "You could do better you know."

Kaoru thanked Misao with her eyes. Misao was one of her good friends at work. She was genuinely happy for her when she found out about her raise and acceptance into grad school.

Some of the faculty was giving her a hard time when they found out about her modified salary. As a fresh graduate, she wasn't supposed to receive a raise until she had been employed with the school for at least 2 years. When the administration found out about her acceptance to the very competitive and prestigious graduate program, they were extremely delighted and decided to give her a raise. Her salary was now equivalent to the faculty who were employed longer than her.

Quickly changing the subject, Misao grinned mischievously. "So, Kaoru, have you seen the infamous Mr. Yukishiro these past two months?"

Kaoru couldn't help but laugh. "No, I haven't."

Misao's couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. "Really? Almost all the parents in your class scheduled an appointment with you after the PTF."

"Yeah, but he usually talks to Katsura-san, then Katsura-san relays the information to me."

"Isn't that a bit of a hassle?" Misao's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. "Why doesn't he just talk to you directly?"

"I don't know." Kaoru shrugged. "And I really don't mind. He seemed uncomfortable talking to me during the PTF so I'm not at all surprised." At Tomoko's excited response, Kaoru immediately regretted voicing out that last comment.

"Really!" Tomoko put her finger on her chin thoughtfully. "He seems the type to be pretty suave with the ladies." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Well, maybe it's just me." Kaoru laughed good naturedly at Tomoko's expression. "Please pass the salt' and 'Excuse me' were only the two things he said to me all night."

"Maybe he's gay." Misao whispered conspiratorially. Her remark caused the three ladies to erupt into giggles.

"I certainly hope not." Tomoko managed to sputter out. "I gave the guy my number!"

"Oh you did not!" Misao let out a hearty chuckle.

"Gay or not, he is pretty cute." Kaoru admitted to herself more than to the others. She tried to deny the feeling of disappointment she felt when she didn't receive any requests for an appointment from Mr. Yukishiro. And she certainly didn't want to delve on her internal reaction after finding out Tomoko's dealings with him. She kept telling herself that she was merely attracted him for physical reasons.

"Kaoru, dear, he is not cute." Tomoko's face was a cross between a smirk and a grin. "I don't think _cute _could make me come just like that."

Kaoru's eyes widened in shock, while Misao laughed even louder. "Damn, Tomoko." Misao shook her head in amusement.

"And not only is he the hottest male specimen this little teacher's seen but he's also rich and smart." Tomoko added. "He's the real deal, ladies. He's the 21st century Prince Charming."

"I'd have to disagree with the Prince Charming bit." Kaoru rolled her eyes as she remembered the night of the PTF. "He's as charming as a block of wood."

"How'd you know that he's rich and smart?" Misao looked at Tomoko curiously.

"I googled him." Tomoko replied with nonchalance.

Round 2 of giggles commenced. "You googled him?" Misao wheezed out, her breath coming is short rounds from laughing so much. "You, Tomoko, are a piece of work."

"I was curious okay!" Tomoko retorted defensively.

"And what did you did you find out?" Kaoru couldn't help but feel a bit of interest at Tomoko's _Prince Charming_.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Kaoru-chan?" Tomoko's voice was teasing but her eyes took on a bit more colder, threatening look.

"Same reasons as yours. Just satisfying my curiosity." Kaoru replied evenly, catching the underlying tones of her question.

Misao, who seemed totally oblivious to the sudden tension between the two, whined. "Yeah Tomoko! Don't leave us hanging!"

"Well, he's a senior associate at the Seijiro and Himura law firm at the young age of 25. He graduated from Tokyo University with a double degree on accounting and economics. He then proceeded to Harvard to take his law practice. His father was the late Senator Hoji Yukishiro, who was responsible for the education policy passed 5 years ago which resulted to a unbelievable increase in rate of literacy and college graduates here in Japan. His mother is the real estate genius that built her empire of a company from scratch."

"Masami Yukishiro." Kaoru confirmed quietly as she often heard the name on the lips of her parents whenever discussing plans for the family business.

"Exactly." Tomoko agreed. "So you can just imagine the size of his inheritance. And mind you, his inheritance and trust fund are two very separate and different things. This guy is so loaded it's ridiculous."

"Why is he still working then?" Misao couldn't believe what she was hearing. A real life celebrity was in their midst. It was overwhelming to say the least.

"I asked myself the same thing." Tomoko shook her head in amazement.

Kaoru mused quietly. As she was listening to Tomoko's narration, Kaoru thought that she had him all figured out. He was high society. He probably had tons of women falling over themselves just to get to talk to him. She probably struck him as plain, ordinary, someone who wasn't worth the time to talk to. The thought should've angered Kaoru but she felt nothing but indifference. He was unattainable. He was in the same league as Orlando Bloom and Tom Cruise and all the other men she had teeny-bopper crushes on.

Tomoko broke the silence and announced cheerfully, "And that concludes our story time kids!"

And right on cue, Misao and Kaoru went, "Thank you, Teacher Tomoko!"

The three girls were giggling once again as they gathered their bags and headed for home. As Kaoru was climbing into her dark blue Accord, Tomoko called out to her, "I'll see you later, Kaoru-chan!"

Kaoru waved in response and drove off, but not before seeing Misao rubbing her temples as if nursing a headache and Tomoko putting her hands on her mouth, gesturing as if she had something she wasn't supposed to say. She regarded her colleagues' odd behavior for a minute, but dismissed it quickly as it came.

Walking in the dim cool apartment was a relief to Kaoru especially for her eyes. The sun had been too much to bear as she made her way inside the building. It was hard to believe that it was the middle of September. The sun seemed to be squeezing in as much sunlight as possible before the fall season officially begins.

Kaoru slipped of her beige ballet flats and almost groaned at the comfort of the cool hardword floor. She wanted nothing but to lie down at the couch, maybe watch some FRIENDS reruns, and take a nice long nap. But her brain was making her notice the slight mess the kitchen was in. Muttering something about Megumi's obsessive-compulsive tendencies, she changed out her skirt and blouse and donned on Aoshi's old basketball varsity shorts and a sleeveless shirt.

She quickly started on her "afternoon chores" by cooking rice. Well, technically, she wasn't cooking it due to convenience of rice cookers. Rice was the only thing she couldn't char to a crisp, chop beyond recognition, or boil into nothingness so the chore was given to her.

Before starting on the dishes, she turned on the stereo and popped in the new Joss Stone CD. Playing music while working was a habit she acquired during 6th grade and it's been with her ever since. She always did chores better with music in the background.

After rinsing the last dish, and wiping of the counter table and stove, Kaoru made her way into the living room and started fluffing up the pillows and straightening magazines and the various furnishings. She was about to drape herself on the couch when she caught site of the inside of Megumi's and Aoshi's rooms. 'To clean or not to clean, that is the question' she thought to herself as she surveyed the rooms.

Kaoru was having second thoughts in cleaning up the rooms because she was afraid that she might be violating some privacy rule. It wasn't really voiced out or officially stated, but just because they were living together, it didn't mean that they were entitled to each other's business. The three of them took their privacy seriously, especially the two older ones. As Kaoru pondered the pros and cons of cleaning up, she opted for just fixing the bed, but by the time she was finished she ended picking up dirty laundry, lining up shoes, and stacking up random documents.

"Hopefully, they won't get too mad." Kaoru sighed as she turned off the lights in the rooms.

Mentally checking off her chores from her list, she hurried into her room, grabbed her laptop, and snuggled comfortably against the cozy red couch. She flipped open her laptop and her ears welcomed the familiar welcome jingle of Microsoft Windows as it opened up to her profile. Kaoru glided her fingers on the touch pad and clicked open her web browser. A bubble of anticipation rose in her as her email assistant greeted with the notice, "You've got mail."

Kaoru loved getting mail. She delighted in the idea of correspondence, whether it be by the old-fashioned way or through email. The first grade teacher made sure to keep in touch with high school and college friends by sending them e-cards accompanied by personal messages during their birthdays and certain holidays. During gatherings and reunions she would be teased for it but afterward, most if not all of them would always approach and thank her for her thoughtfulness. She avoided sending forwarded messages because they were annoying and impersonal.

As Kaoru clicked on her inbox, she hoped that it wasn't some ad or promotion. The page was finally completed loading. As the name of the sender appeared, she leaned back against the couch in surprise.

**Sender:** Himura Kenshin

**Subject:** Hey.

Kaoru eyed the sender skeptically. Thoughts of doubt and unanswered questions filled her mind. "Why is he emailing me? He never bothered to reply to my initiation of correspondence before. Why now?"

She knew she could easily find answers to her questions by opening the email but she was hesitant. Her emotional self preservation instincts were kicking in. She groaned at the familiar feeling of apprehension. "This is stupid." She declared to herself, shaking her head as if trying to remove her uneasiness.

Moving her index finger, she placed the arrow cursor on the email link to open it, but before she could read the contents of her email, she was distracted by sounds of someone opening the apartment door. It revealed a tall young man looking quite bothered. Cocking an eyebrow at her brother, Kaoru watched him go over to the fridge to get water.

"Hey." Aoshi Shinomori seated himself beside his sister and propped his sneaker-clad feet on the coffee table across.

Quickly closing her laptop, Kaoru looked at her brother curiously. "Are you okay? You seem… rushed." Kaoru knew her brother to be the put together… composed. He didn't rush. He hastened.

"Oh, yeah." Aoshi took a long sip of water. "Meg called me up saying that we have reservations at that new Thai place three blocks down. She said to me meet us there for dinner."

"Reservations? What's the occasion?" Kaoru inquired. Megumi always preferred home-cooked meals than going out.

"I don't know. She just said to meet her there and dress nice." Aoshi shrugged, reaching over to get the remote control.

"I was hoping to stay home tonight and relax." Kaoru sighed. "Oh well. Just as long she's paying." She stood up and forcibly removed her brother's feet of the coffee table. "And keep it down." She added sternly before walking inside the room.

As soon as Kaoru's door closed, Aoshi propped his feet up the table. The action was immediately followed by a menacing shout, "AOSHI!"

After muttering something about obsessive-compulsive women, he kicked off his sneakers and lay down at the couch for a nap.

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry it took so long. I just have so many ideas for this story that I can't focus on this chapter. And I'm not satisfied with the prologue too so it's also in the works. Anyway as we speak I'm already writing the next update. Sorry too for the typos and grammar. My beta is currently battling government and general psychology. I don't have the heart to ask her to edit this seeing as she already has enough work as it is. So I really need another beta. **

**WANTED: Beta who will put up with my all my endearing characteristics (random, weird, impulsive, etc.) and grammar errors. (It's really a wonder why aced Comp and Rhet.)**

**Please read and review! **

**This chapter is dedicated to YURU! **


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**: Surprise, Surprise

**Disclaimer: I do not own RK, but I do own the fanfic. **

"What the heck are you doing still inside the building!" A frantic voice hissed into the ear piece of Aoshi's cell phone.

Aoshi smartly answered, "Huh?"

"Get her out of the apartment! We only have an hour tops to finish all the preparations!" Megumi was slowly but surely slipping into panic mode. "You are supposed to be at the restaurant already! What if the concierge thinks that the whole thing was called off! You know how it is during Friday evenings! People literally kill each other for tables at that restaurant!" She ended her long tirade by screeching Aoshi's name. "AOSHI!"

When she was planning the surprise birthday party for Kaoru she had taken to account every detail and second. Everything had a schedule and a list, much to Aoshi's consternation. It took a lot than the usual to ruffle the young man's feathers but when it came to his dear cousin, he sometimes found himself reconsidering the whole inner-calm- Zen thing.

Aoshi pulled back his head a meter from his cell phone. He was quite surprised that the ear piece in his phone didn't cackle in the high frequency of Megumi's voice. Trust Megumi to get a coronary in planning a birthday party.

"Yeah, yeah. We're leaving-" Aoshi abruptly stopped mid sentence as he checked his watch. "Megumi.." His voice was calm but was laced with something opposite to it. "Please check your watch."

"Aoshi, this is not the time to see if I know how to read my watch." Megumi retorted. "I went to medical school so I'm pretty sure as hell that I can tell time."

"Well then, please don't mind if I tell the dean of medicine to take back your diploma." Aoshi countered icily. He doesn't usually let his temper get the best of him, but the woman woke him from his nap. Another one of the rules of the Shinomori/Takani household was that never ever wake up Aoshi unless if it was a matter of life or death, if money was involved, and if Nicole Kidman was knocking at the door.

A long pause followed on the other line. "I'm sorry." Megumi said meekly. "Please forgive me, Yoshi." She asked quietly. In her haste to leave for work, she read her watch wrong. Aoshi was supposed to get Kaoru out by 6:30. She thought it was already 7:30 for some reason.

Aoshi sighed softly. As soon as Megumi uttered his childhood nickname, _Yoshi_ everything was forgiven. Hewas a pushover when it came to his cousin and sister, and he really didn't mind. When it came down to it, he could never get mad at his cousin or his sister for long. In Kaoru's case she just had to turn those sapphire eyes of hers with a ridiculously good expression of disappointment or sadness, and she'd have Aoshi saying sorry _to her_. Aoshi was genuinely surprised that she didn't choose theatre as her major.

"No, it's my fault. I should be leaving anyway. Sorry for snapping at you." Aoshi ran a hand through his hair – a mannerism he seemed to do whenever he was apologizing for something.

"No, I'm such a control freak sometimes." Megumi chuckled into the phone. There was a quick pause. "Aoshi, shouldn't you be getting Kaoru out already?"

"You were saying?" Aoshi's voice took a wry tone. Megumi could practically see the smirk of his face. "I'll just call you if something comes up."

"Oh no." Megumi groaned. "Sano, Soujiro, and the rest of your colleagues are loitering around the lobby."

"What are they doing out so early?" Aoshi's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Can you do me a favor and ask them if they finished editing the photos? I don't want a repeat of last time. I'm not taking to that Komagata woman again. Sometimes I think they don't do their job just to annoy me." Aoshi muttered.

"I'll let them know. Meanwhile take Kaoru out already. Your colleagues are usually later than fashionably late. The other guests may start arriving already." Megumi warned, while waving to the group of men who were sticking out like a sore thumb amidst the people walking in and out of the lobby. "OH! And wear the blue sweater I got you for Christmas."

"Fine. I'll see you." Aoshi ended the call and strode purposefully at Kaoru's room. "Kaoru?" he knocked firmly on the door. "We're going to be late for the reservations. We're leaving in 5 minutes."

The door opened revealing a dressed up Kaoru sporting a pout on her face. "Megumi planned my outfit… AGAIN." Megumi, in her all knowing obsessive-compulsive ways, laid out for Kaoru several _options_, should she be _confused_. Kaoru ended up donning on her nice pair of jeans, a brown and aqua silk paisley-print camisole paired with aqua knit beaded bolero. She then completed the look with her pointy flat black slides.

"Don't worry. She bossed me too in wearing this blue sweater." Aoshi gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sorry if I didn't wake you up. I thought that you had an alarm set or something." Kaoru apologized checking her watch as she made a grab for her black clutch.

"No, it's fine." Aoshi hollered from his room. He was pulling the light blue sweater over his gray collared shirt. Slipping on his Pumas and pocketing his keys, he strode over the kitchen to turn off the lights. "Let's go, Kaoru."

"Yep." She replied as she stepped outside the apartment so that Aoshi can lock up. "I'll meet you at the lobby!" She yelled as she bounded down the hall to head for the elevator.

"NO!" Aoshi yelled back. "Wait for me, Kaoru!" He ran over to the elevator and stopped the doors from closing from the nick of time. "We're a bit impatient huh?" He threw her a glare that lacked intensity.

"Touchy much?" Kaoru mused quietly.

They finally reached ground floor and as they walked to the door, Kaoru couldn't help notice the delivery man that just passed by. He was holding the most beautiful bouquet of roses, colors ranging from yellow, peach, pink, and white.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kaoru's face broke out into a yawn as soon as she closed the door to their apartment. She had been hugging and kissing her good friends and colleagues goodbye. Her surprise birthday party had ended during the wee hours of the morning. It was a good party. Kaoru didn't how she did it, but Megumi had somehow roped the guests into a hilarious game of charades and spin-the-bottle. She bit back a laugh as relieved in her mind the high light of the party – the boys doing karaoke for losing at charades and Aoshi kissing Misao at the spin-the-bottle game. By some mysterious hand guiding the bottle, people Megumi and Kaoru had been trying to hook up, ended up kissing each other.

Aoshi playfully nudged her from her reverie. "So… were you surprised?"

Kaoru chuckled softly. "Yes, I was surprised." Kaoru couldn't help but smile as she recalled how Aoshi got her out of the house and distracted her. "You really know how to push my buttons, huh?"

"Standard operating procedures of an older brother." Aoshi answered as if stating a fact. "I hope you weren't too stressed out." Aoshi looked at his little sister worriedly.

"No, I wasn't." Kaoru looped her arm around her brother's and leaned her head against his arm. "Thanks."

Aoshi gave her one of his rare grins. "I'm pretty sweet aren't I?"

"Yeah, yeah." Kaoru rolled her eyes.

"I have to go and referee." Aoshi sighed. "Sano's within Megumi's 3 meter radius." Aoshi hollered, "Can you two please clean up while bickering?"

Kaoru just giggled. "Go ahead." She watched her brother pry Megumi off Sano. Megumi had always had a thing for Sano. The moment the lady doctor set her eyes on gentle and mischievous brown eyes, she was sold. The thing with Megumi was that she had a very unique way of showing her interest on the man. She chewed and spat him out every chance she got.

Feeling like a kid on Christmas day, Kaoru smiled goofily as she looked through her presents. Her eyes immediately fell to the beautiful bouquet of flowers. All through the night she'd been dying to know who they were from. She hadn't been able to look at the card when she was transferring the roses to a simple, tall glass vase. She picked up the unusually large card that accompanied the bouquet. Carefully opening it, Kaoru pulled out a brightly decorated home-made card. She couldn't help but coo, "Aw," as she read the card.

_Happy Birthday Teacher Kaoru! I hope you like the card I made you. I drawed the big cake all by myself. I stuck the glitter stickers too. Nichan helped me with the balloons. I helped Nichan pick out the roses. I hope you get lots of presents and lots of cake. You're my bestest and favoritest teacher in the whole wide world. Happy Birthday!_

_Love,_

_Tomoe _

Kaoru couldn't stop saying "Aw." It was definitely one of the best friends she received. She read the card one more time before carefully placing it inside the envelope. "This," she thought, "is what makes it all worth it."

She got a yellow rose stem and stroked the petals gently. _How did Tomoe know I like yellow roses?_ Then something clicked. She suddenly remembered mentioning at the PTF that her favorite flowers were yellow roses. A stupid grin slowly made its way to her face.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

_Last Night…_

"DING-DONG!"

"Coming!" Enishi Yukishiro shouted from the kitchen where he had been helping his little sister with her latest project.

"Who is it?" Enishi asked of habit as he reached the beautifully carved oak door. He waited for an answer even though he already knew who it was.

"Your lover boy, Yukishiro!" Akira purposefully hollered in response. The door swung open revealing Enishi's usual bored face. Akira greeted him with a grin and Enishi just rolled his eyes in response as he closed the door. As Akira walked into the kitchen, he expected the usual hug and kiss from his god daughter, but it didn't come.

"I come bearing dinner!" Akira announced, laying down 2 boxes of pizza and the rest of the fixings it came with. He looked over to the toddler coloring furiously. "I'd like my usual hug and kiss _anytime now…_" He sing-songed. After a few seconds, the toddler finally looked up to find Uncle Kira looking very much liker her when she didn't get her way. In a frighteningly similar way to her brother's, Tomoe rolled her eyes and made her way to the other side of the kitchen table to give her sulking Uncle Kira a hug and kiss. After the custom salutations, she began her diligent coloring again.

Akira looked over to Enishi with a questioning glance.

"Birthday card." Enishi answered simply.

A look of understanding passed through Akira eyes. With a patronizing and amused look, Akira went over to Tomoe and ruffled her hair. "Honey, my birthday's not until the next 5 months." Every birthday, ever since Tomoe learned how to hold a crayon, she had been giving birthday "drawings" to her dear Uncle Kira. Akira always looked forward to them.

Tomoe stopped and looked at her godfather oddly. "It's not for you, Uncle Kira."

Enishi snorted.

Akira for a moment there was embarrassed but he quickly recovered. "Who is it for then?"

"Teacher Kaoru!" Tomoe answered cheerfully. Her onyx eyes shone with excitement as she began to explain the design of her project. "I drew her a birthday cake. It's chocolate with white icing. Chocolate's her favorite." Tomoe explained as if talking to someone very ignorant.

"Teacher Kaoru huh?" Akira murmured to himself. He slowly turned his head to look at his best friend. A mischievous smirk made its way to his handsome face when he saw Enishi's expression.

Enishi's surprise was not really evident. Only the people close to him could understand and see his subtle reactions to things. By the way Akira was smirking at him, Enishi knew that he knew he was surprised too. When his sister asked him to draw balloons for her, it never occurred to him to ask for who the birthday card was. It wasn't unusual for him to see Tomoe doing little arts and crafts.

Tomoe suddenly looked up to her brother. "Nichan…" She began slowly, smiling sweetly in the process.

"Hmm?" Enishi already knew what was coming next.

"Can I ask you something?" Tomoe's smile turned innocent and a bit coy.

As soon as Enishi saw the smile, his guard was up. He definitely wasn't looking forward to Tomoe's teenage years. "Sure, sweetie."

"If it's okay with you, can we get Teacher Kaoru a gift?" Tomoe pulled out the big guns by batting her eyelashes and letting out an adorable smile.

Taken aback by her sister's request, he replied, "Sure. Do you have an idea what to give her?"

"Yup." Tomoe chirped. "Thanks Nichan!"

"What do you plan on giving her?" Enishi looked over to Akira who seemed quite entertained with the scene unfolding before him.

"What every girl wants!" Tomoe answered, as she began sticking purple glitter stickers all over the card.

"And what does every girl want?" Enishi asked looking over to Akira and sharing his amused look.

Tomoe looked up very surprised as if her brother didn't know. "A pony!" The little girl stared at her brother and her uncle as if taken aback. "You didn't know that?"

"You're planning to give your teacher a pony?" Enishi didn't bother trying to understand where his sister got that.

"Yeah!" Tomoe smiled at her brother. "All girls like ponies.

Enishi thought out his next words carefully. His sister shared his stubborn streak. Once she made up her mind about something it was very difficult to talk her out of it.

"Let's see you get out of this one." Akira chuckled as he passed by to get a slice of pizza.

"Tomoe, sweetie…" Enishi started hesitantly. "I don't think-" He suddenly stopped mid sentence when he something clicked in his mind. "Tomoe, I have a better idea for a present for Teacher Kaoru."

"Better than a pony?" Tomoe questioned him, looking very skeptic.

"Yeah. I know exactly what Teacher Kaoru would love to receive for her birthday." Enishi grinned at his little sister. He didn't know why but something kept telling him that night to remember Kaoru's favorite flowers. He felt a sense of foreboding. It was like his gut was telling him that the little bit of information would be useful someday. The instincts that made him a ruthless formidable lawyer in his field had saved him once again.

"How do you know that?" Tomoe still seemed to be doubtful. She couldn't quite comprehend that Teacher Kaoru wouldn't like a pony.

Enishi smiled fondly at her sister. She already had the makings of a good interrogator. "We talked."

Akira snorted.

Sending a quick glare in Akira's direction, Enishi began rationalizing. "Remember that adult party at your school I went to with Uncle Kira? I talked to her at that time."

Tomoe's eyes twinkled with something Enishi couldn't quite name. "Isn't she nice? And she's so pretty too. She's my favorite teacher."

"Yeah… she is." Akira decided then to butt in, cocking his head to the side as if remembering.

"She told me that she loved yellow roses." Enishi said keeping his eyes on his sister and avoiding Akira's mirthful gaze.

"Teacher Kaoru loves flowers!" Tomoe's grin spread from ear to ear.

"We'll pick up a bunch of them tomorrow and we'll send them on that day too." Enishi sat on the chair beside the excited toddler. "How's that?"

"You're the best, Nichan!" Tomoe scrambled from her seat to give her favorite brother a kiss and a hug. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome." Enishi chuckled, as he held his sister in his arms.


End file.
